Data Interpretation Techniques and Analytical Methods for Food Policy Analysis

Excerpts from the report Summary: Over the past twelve years a program of applied research related to the effects of agricultural and food subsidy policies on the food consumption behavior of nutritionally at-risk households has been undertaken by the Nutrition Economics Group (NEG)---a unit of the Technical Assistance Division of the Office of International Cooperation and Development at the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The work, which was supported by the Office of Nutrition of the U. S. Agency for International Development (A.I.D), included a series of food policy studies in developing countries of Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Although the studies were addressed to specific policy issues and were expected to generate results that would have an effect on the policy process, a major area of concern was the development of methods. Because the work did not deal explicitly with methodological development, there is a need to summarize what was learned about methods from the policy studies. This report addresses that need. The report focuses on interpretative and analytical methods that can be used with existing data. Documents from forty food policy studies done in 17 countries are reviewed. The types of data sources used and the techniques and analytical methods adopted in those studies are described. In addition to the food policy studies, NEG sponsored some work on conceptual and methodological issues. Findings from this work are incorporated into the general discussion.